This invention relates to a combination of an electrical connector (which will simply be referred to as “connector”) and a mating connector, which are mated with each other and can be locked together.
JP-A H10-32042 discloses a connector and a mating connector, which are lockable together under the mating state thereof. The connector is a coaxial cable connector and has inner and outer conductors. The outer conductor has a first spring portion, which extends in an axial direction of the connector. A free end of the first spring portion is provided with a first inwardly-projecting portion. Upon the coupling of the connector and the mating connector, the first inwardly-projecting portion is engaged with a recess portion which is formed in an outer surface of the mating connector.
To secure the engagement and to fix two connectors in a locked state, the connector further comprises a movable member and a coupling nut. The movable member comprises a second spring portion, which extends in the axial direction. A free end of the second spring portion is provided with a second inwardly-projecting portion. The movable member is movable along the axial direction so that the second inwardly-projecting portion can project forwards beyond the first inwardly-projecting portion in the axial direction. The coupling nut is also movable along the axial direction. Specifically, the coupling nut can move backwards relative to the movable member.
Locking and unlocking operations are simple. When the connector is pressed against the mating connector to couple together, the locked state is established. Under the locked state, the first inwardly-projecting portion is engaged with the recess portion of the mating connector, and the second inwardly-projecting portion is positioned on the first inwardly-projecting portion in a radial direction of the connector. To hold the locked state, the coupling nut is further positioned on the second inwardly-projecting portion in the radial direction.
When the connector is pulled from the mating connector to release the coupling, the locked state is also released. By this operation, only the coupling nut is moved backwards in the axial direction relative to the movable member so that the first and the second inwardly-projecting portions can be moved easily in the radial direction.
However, the conventional connector has a complex structure to achieve the aforementioned simple operations. For example, the conventional connector needs comprises two spring members, which press the movable member and the coupling nut, respectively and separately, along the axial direction.
In addition, the locked state is obtained by coaxially positioning the free ends of the first and second spring portions and by keeping the coaxial configurations by the use of the coupling nut. This mechanism is also too complex.